What is your religious denomination?

Medusa said:

our universal morality doesnt take its source from our instincts . .it is our mind which led us to develop these ethics to be a part of the society in which we have to live together because we are social beings.

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I respectfully disagree. I believe that our minds have led us to override the proper morality (based on our instincts) with that based on the false ideals of reason and logic. We lived together long before we built these constructs. We just did so in much smaller groups than today's social constructs. Generally no more than clan sized. It is my belief that we were never really designed to exist on a whole lot more than that level.

Medusa said:

you may know eastern philosophies differ from abrahamic ones in forming an idealized human. your views on this issue seem to be a mixture of both of them.

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I am well aware that there are significant differences between Eastern and Western philosophies. I don't believe that either are fully correct, and thusly you are right in seeing my views as a mixture of the two.

Tigger said:

I respectfully disagree. I believe that our minds have led us to override the proper morality (based on our instincts) with that based on the false ideals of reason and logic. We lived together long before we built these constructs. We just did so in much smaller groups than today's social constructs. Generally no more than clan sized. It is my belief that we were never really designed to exist on a whole lot more than that level.



I am well aware that there are significant differences between Eastern and Western philosophies. I don't believe that either are fully correct, and thusly you are right in seeing my views as a mixture of the two.

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l respectfully have to state that our instincts cant determine what we should do :2razz:

our instincts are selfish .but our ability to develop empathy for the others are more important element

we have mind and conscience which will help us learn what to do. and an idealized human has to ignore his instincts to do what he should do

Medusa said:

l respectfully have to state that our instincts cant determine what we should do :2razz:

we have mind and conscience which will help us learn what to do. and an idealized human has to ignore his instincts to do what he should do

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That's totally fine. Obviously we see this from very different points of view. That does not surprise me a whole lot, but that's alright.

I would suggset that an idealized human being uses his or her mind to maximize their potential inside of the limits set be instinct and nature, not to avoid them.

Tigger said:

That's totally fine. Obviously we see this from very different points of view. That does not surprise me a whole lot, but that's alright.

I would suggset that an idealized human being uses his or her mind to maximize their potential inside of the limits set be instinct and nature, not to avoid them.

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but our instinct involves violence too .l dont want to obey my instincts .

we have enough instincts which still help us survive.

do you know maslow's hierarchical theory *

we already have to meet our instinctive needs to survive.

Medusa said:

but our instinct involves violence too. l dont want to obey my instincts.

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Our instints also include Love, which I see little or no use for, personally. We don't get to pick and choose these things in life.

Medusa said:

we have enough instincts which still help us survive.

do you know maslow's hierarchical theory *

we already have to meet our instinctive needs to survive.

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I had to look it up, having never heard of it before. I would agree with the bottom four steps, but I actually believe that the top step is really already included in the lower four. Creativity, Problem Solving, etc... are the means to which we find the other four things, not really a level unto themselves so far as I'm concerned.

Mathematician said:

The responses here support my opinion that society is losing some values due to the number who are losing faith. So many are saying "I was raised this way, but I don't believe in it." I find that quite a shame.

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Then you have in your footer:
"With me everything turns into mathematics."
"It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well."
"It is truth very certain that, when it is not in one's power to determine what is true, we ought to follow what is more probable." -- Rene Descartes"
Very interisting. Your scope goes well beyond religion; good.

Vapor said:

We've got a vast spread of political ideologies on this forum, let's see how diverse our religious beliefs are. I'm sure this has been done in the past, but...meh.

This isn't intended as a catalyst for theological debates, but if that's where it leads...y'all have fun.

I, personally, am an agnostic because A. I realized that the Christian stories I was raised with made no more sense than the Norse and Greek "Mythologies" and B. I don't feel like humanity is capable of understanding whatever supernatural force, if any, exists; if we can't stop killing each other, how can we expect to understand the nature of the universe? And C. almost all religions teach peace, yet they seem incapable of co-existing, and therefore, I have a problem with organized religion.

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I guess you would say I am a deist based on much of what I think and write, though I follow the most widely practiced form of Christianity. IOW, I am Christian and I and not an exclusivist. (My Church recognizes the truths of all religions) So to explain further. Since the beginning of time I believe God has inspired man with certain morals, and attitudes which spell out a way to live. Those inspirations have imbued beliefs which if historically viewed would encompass Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Man has done a fabulous job of twisting those beliefs to fit his own idea of what is good, bad or indifferent. I believe these things because when I look about at the world I see no other possible consideration as to how all of this complex planet and its life to exist.

What has distressed me the most about religion of recent times is the rise of Atheist evangelism. I see written on the various forums more call for people to forget about God and move to the Atheist side of the aisle rather than the evangelism of any other belief system.

dnsmith said:

I guess you would say I am a deist based on much of what I think and write, though I follow the most widely practiced form of Christianity. IOW, I am Christian and I and not an exclusivist. (My Church recognizes the truths of all religions) So to explain further. Since the beginning of time I believe God has inspired man with certain morals, and attitudes which spell out a way to live. Those inspirations have imbued beliefs which if historically viewed would encompass Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Man has done a fabulous job of twisting those beliefs to fit his own idea of what is good, bad or indifferent. I believe these things because when I look about at the world I see no other possible consideration as to how all of this complex planet and its life to exist.

What has distressed me the most about religion of recent times is the rise of Atheist evangelism. I see written on the various forums more call for people to forget about God and move to the Atheist side of the aisle rather than the evangelism of any other belief system.

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I can't stand it when certain Atheists try to convert people because Atheism isn't a religion at all.

I have never understood the point of trying to talk people out of their beliefs. I give my opinions when warranted, but I am not trying to convince people to give up what they believe and what keeps them at peace. I think that is something that some people don't get.

AreteCourage said:

I can't stand it when certain Atheists try to convert people because Atheism isn't a religion at all.

I have never understood the point of trying to talk people out of their beliefs. I give my opinions when warranted, but I am not trying to convince people to give up what they believe and what keeps them at peace. I think that is something that some people don't

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Easy. Religion replaces critical thought, inquisitive mindfulness, reason, and open-minded thought with unchallengable dogma. It's almost the equivalence of believing in homopathy, pyschics, astrology, conspiracy theories and other nonsense, but it takes the air of authority by damning everyone who doesn't believe in its tripe. Can you imagine if someone pulled out a ouija board and then started dictating the countries' laws from a board game? Those that question the ouija board, are condemned and ostracized. No difference from religion.

Start associating yourself with strong believers, or watch docs like 'Jesus Camp' or 'Deborah 13'. You'll grasp why heliocentrism, evolution, LGBT people, women, etc. are/were assualted and decried. There is no freedom to question or believe/support ideas even if they are factual.

Ray410 said:

Don't start slobbering in anticipation of another endless homosexual/atheist platform to attack the faith of others, that you lack.

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Heheheheheheheheheheheheheh....

Oh, wait, you're serious? You assume that because I have discounted my own Baptist upbringing and given up the search to find the answer so that I might enjoy the life I have on this wondrous and beautiful planet of ours without fear of supernatural damnation, that I therefore enjoy whipping the unwashed heathen hordes into a frenzy that will descend upon the faithful? Listen, mate, I have nothing against religion, so long as its believers actually adhere to the benign teachings, and so long as they observe the separation of church and state. I will respect your beliefs if you respect my lack thereof. Belief in a god does not make you a good person, but if fear of damnation is what it takes to make people act decently towards one another, then that's fine.

I used to be antagonistic towards religion; I'll be the first to admit that. I met a guy in my German class at high school with whom I argued so vehemently that we almost came to blows on several occasions. The next year, we found ourselves in the same German class again, and without as many people to argue with, my irritation towards the idea of religion had ebbed over the summer. We no longer argued religion, but often discussed politics and the drama of our peers with a mutual amusement. The animosity faded, and that man is now amongst my best friends, and now we can discuss religion on respectful terms - with the occasional good-natured jab, of course.

I won't shame you for believing. I will, however, shame you for using "homosexual/atheist" in a negative manner. Gays and atheists are people, too, my friend.

I was raised in a Lutheran family.
I have been back and forth with Atheism, agnostic, back to Lutheranism and back again.
I have finally found myself comfortable with Christian Deism.

I'm an evangelical christian, the progressive type.

I chose other but that is not really right. I consider myself Christian however, I am not a member of any church and my belief draws from other religions. I believe that Mohammed was a prophet, but I believe in the divinity of Jesus. I don't believe in Buddhism, but I draw from the teachings of peace. Really, I'm a monotheistic blend.

I was raised Baptist and continue to be one. To the opposite of atheists, I have seen many atrocities in this world and believe only God will ever stop them. I believe we, as human beings, are the culprits behind our decay, not God. We were given free will and have used it to the detriment of society from the beginning. We are a naturally destructive race and will continue to be by our own volition until the day Jesus returns. That's what I believe to be fact.

Van Basten said:

I'm an evangelical christian, the progressive type.

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What does that mean?

MarineTpartier said:

What does that mean?

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I'm not an asshole to people of contrary beliefs.

Van Basten said:

I'm not an asshole to people of contrary beliefs.

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Gotcha

finebead said:

You lump Darwin with Einstein, and they are not the same. Einstein wrote down the rules of physics, the special and general theories of relativity, and he PROVED them beyond a shadow of a doubt. Newton wrote down his attempt at the rules of physics and they worked for everything that was provable when he wrote them. Einstein went much farther and his extensions were definitively PROVEN.

Theory Of Relativity

That degree of precision would me needed to control a nuclear reaction and make one splitting of the atom into a bomb vs. another splitting of the atom into an electric generating facility. Darwin wrote down his theory and it has never been proven. Darwin certainly never set out to prove god does not exist, and he did not prove that. You must differentiate between what is proven and what is theory. As you point out, the origin of life has not been explained at all. Scientists are working on it, but don't have it yet and they may never get there.

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-_-

Evolution is fact. A theory is a scientific explanation of an observed phenomenon, whereas laws (your quoted of "rules of physics") is a description of observed phenomenon. You may deny that all species on the planet Earth descended from a common ancestor to your heart's content, but you will never be able to refute evolution because that would be akin to trying to refute gravity, germ theory or heliocentrism. We know evolution happens because we can observe it even in the simplest organisms like viruses, and find it in complex organisms through the fossil record. It is simply unambiguous. It is the foundation of modern biology, supported by massive amounts of evidence collected from biology, zoology, botany, geology, genetics, paleontology, microbiology, virology and countless other scientific fields of knowledge. Science is not a cabal of Satanists. Evolutionary biology either lives or dies by evidence, and evidence has carried and proven this theory for near a century and a half.

brothern said:

-_-

Evolution is fact. A theory is a scientific explanation of an observed phenomenon, whereas laws (your quoted of "rules of physics") is a description of observed phenomenon. You may deny that all species on the planet Earth descended from a common ancestor to your heart's content, but you will never be able to refute evolution because that would be akin to trying to refute gravity, germ theory or heliocentrism. We know evolution happens because we can observe it even in the simplest organisms like viruses, and find it in complex organisms through the fossil record. It is simply unambiguous. It is the foundation of modern biology, supported by massive amounts of evidence collected from biology, zoology, botany, geology, genetics, paleontology, microbiology, virology and countless other scientific fields of knowledge. Science is not a cabal of Satanists. Evolutionary biology either lives or dies by evidence, and evidence has carried and proven this theory for near a century and a half.

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There is no doubt that life has progressed from simpler to more complex forms. The question is, was that all an accident (natural selection), or was there some intelligent design behind it. Same set of events, the progressive complexity of life forms, does not explain WHY it happened that way.

As you have acknowledged, science has not explained where life came from. At one point the earth was too hot to support any life. Then it began to cool. Then single cell life appeared. How did that happen? Man is intelligent and advanced scientifically and in medicine, but with our super sophisticated equipment and energy sources, we can't put life into the building blocks of cells. But you're going to tell me that happened one fine day down in the mud pit when the solution had just the right composition, the right temp existed, and then a cell came to life... I think that leaves room for a god, an author of life.

I think about this, I am not afraid of being an atheist, but the atheist have explaining to do.

Where does life come from? Can the force of nature build more and more complex organisms by accident, when man with his intelligence in his laboratories cannot? This is contrary to what I see in the world. To build more and more complex devices requires intellect and a plan.

Rounds stones were in the world for a long time, but carts did not exist until sufficient intellect assembled the round stone onto an axle. Intellect is required.

finebead said:

There is no doubt that life has progressed from simpler to more complex forms. The question is, was that all an accident (natural selection), or was there some intelligent design behind it. Same set of events, the progressive complexity of life forms, does not explain WHY it happened that way.

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Evolution demonstrates how the process of replication could give rise to the illusion of design. Organisms create copies of themselves, which create copies of themselves, to a possible endless sum of generations. Any errors in the copying process that are detrimental to the organism will cease its ability to replicate, while copying errors that are beneficial to replication will lead to that errors' dominance. After numerous generations, the successful replicators will seem to be designed for effectiveness, when in reality it is the simple accumulation of that organisms' accidentally successful copying errors that had lead to effective replicating. There is no design or intelligence in the process at all.

finebead said:

As you have acknowledged, science has not explained where life came from. At one point the earth was too hot to support any life. Then it began to cool. Then single cell life appeared. How did that happen? Man is intelligent and advanced scientifically and in medicine, but with our super sophisticated equipment and energy sources, we can't put life into the building blocks of cells. But you're going to tell me that happened one fine day down in the mud pit when the solution had just the right composition, the right temp existed, and then a cell came to life... I think that leaves room for a god, an author of life.

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John von Neumann demonstrated proof in the 1950s that it is theoretically possible for a simple physical system to make exact copies of itself from surrounding materials. His work. Since then we have identified numerous molecules and crystals that can replicate in ways that would spawn natural selection. You can view some of them here. Beyond that, I believe you should be introduced to the Argument from Ignorance:

1. There are things that we cannot explain yet.
2. God did it.

It is an informal logical fallacy that claims only a proposition is true only because it has not been proved as false. It represents a false dichotomy between true and false, and ignores the third option; that there is insufficient information available to prove the proposition true or false. In other words, Point 2 does not logically follow Point 1. I could have simply written -

1. There are thing that we cannot explain yet.
2. A wild hedgehog wearing a flower-print tea cozy did it.

I think about this, I am not afraid of being an atheist, but the atheist have explaining to do.

Where does life come from? Can the force of nature build more and more complex organisms by accident, when man with his intelligence in his laboratories cannot? This is contrary to what I see in the world. To build more and more complex devices requires intellect and a plan.

Rounds stones were in the world for a long time, but carts did not exist until sufficient intellect assembled the round stone onto an axle. Intellect is required.

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Explained above.

Vapor said:

We've got a vast spread of political ideologies on this forum, let's see how diverse our religious beliefs are. I'm sure this has been done in the past, but...meh.

This isn't intended as a catalyst for theological debates, but if that's where it leads...y'all have fun.

I, personally, am an agnostic because A. I realized that the Christian stories I was raised with made no more sense than the Norse and Greek "Mythologies" and B. I don't feel like humanity is capable of understanding whatever supernatural force, if any, exists; if we can't stop killing each other, how can we expect to understand the nature of the universe? And C. almost all religions teach peace, yet they seem incapable of co-existing, and therefore, I have a problem with organized religion.

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You Left Out Atheist
And YES, Atheism Is A RELIGION
And Your Above Paragraph Is Pompous Hog-Wash

And So Are YOU

karpenter said:

You Left Out Atheist
And YES, Atheism Is A RELIGION

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And You Left Out Politics
And YES, Politics Is A RELIGION

any dogmatic belief can be classified as a religion.

MarineTpartier said:

I was raised Baptist and continue to be one. To the opposite of atheists, I have seen many atrocities in this world and believe only God will ever stop them. I believe we, as human beings, are the culprits behind our decay, not God. We were given free will and have used it to the detriment of society from the beginning. We are a naturally destructive race and will continue to be by our own volition until the day Jesus returns. That's what I believe to be fact.

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I'm just curious and your post is so clear that I'll ask what is a simple question. It's not ment to be a put down. It is just to clarify how you are thinking and percieving stuff. So, what do you know to be a fact? High level please. thx

karpenter said:

You Left Out Atheist
And YES, Atheism Is A RELIGION

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FALSE

it can be but it doesnt have to be

objective-j said:

false

it can be but it doesnt have to be

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BullS**T !!

Oh, I'm Sorry...

Were A Few Letters
On A Screen OFFENSIVE ??

Oh No, Maybe Your Penis Went Slop
Go Home & Weep To Your GIRL Friend
SHE Will Console You
Poor BeeBee !!